


only the violence that won't stop roaring

by WindChime



Category: Free!
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Gladiators, Angst, Blood and Gore, Fights, Haru and Rin are the best Gladiator, I don't know I'm dumb, M/M, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, They're friends you will see, Tragedy, Violence, its not as dark as it seems, probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-04-20 00:54:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4767440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WindChime/pseuds/WindChime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haruka Nanase was the best Gladiator ever known to the Iwatobi Campus and the Aqua Arena for his cause was pure: to protect the only light in his life. And together with Makoto Tachinaba, a Scapegoat who can supposedly take away his wound after each fight, he was pretty much invincible.<br/>Until a new challenger, Rin Matsuoka, arrived and threatened to drag Haru down from his seat on of the pile of corpses, all for his own reasons.<br/>But who was the real enemy? Was it the other monster in front of them, or the one who turned them into monsters?</p>
            </blockquote>





	only the violence that won't stop roaring

Haru’s sky had no moon or stars.   
It was simply a dark, dark place. No scent, no taste, no warmth, no sound. Not even the sound of his own breathing could be heard. This place that stretched above his head was simply a void. Nothing existed there. Haru was detached from his sky, devoid of any feelings. There was no clock to keep time, and he drifted quietly in the infinite darkness, going on and on forever…  
Then, a scream pierced through his ears and he was harshly yanked back into reality like a marionette cut loose from it strings.  
Haru blinked as his knees hit the shaking ground, his vision going red. His fists, raw and aching, pummeled into an unfamiliar face over, and over again. There was a choking noise from the man beneath him as blood spurted and bones groaned, but Haru kept on hitting. Left, right, left, breaking his nose, right, right, dislocating his jawbone, droplets of blood dying Haru’s hand and staining his pale cheek. The strong smell of iron spread everywhere as though Lady Death shattered her perfume bottle. But Haru wouldn’t- couldn’t stop. If he stopped, he would be the one dying with his face caved in instead.  
Him, and Makoto.  
Finally, he crushed the man’s skull with a hard hit accompanied by a loud crack that was heard throughout the whole Arena. Haru slowly retrieved himself and stood up with grace, even with his whole body covered in blood. Silence returned only for a second, then the spectacles burst into life. Yelling. Hollering. The screaming of bloodlust and satisfaction. But among all that filth, Haru simply threw back his head to look at the pitch black world.   
Haru’s sky had no moon or stars.  
Only the violence that won’t stop roaring.

* * *

 

_Six years later:_  
“Haru, wait… Haru!” Makoto called. Haru stopped in his track and waited until his friend came up from behind, looking slightly annoyed.  
“What were you doing, Makoto?”  
Makoto’s broad shoulders jumped and he looked up guiltily.  
“Nothing…?”  
Haru sighed. “You can’t lie to save your life. Did you take in another cat?”  
Makoto laughed sheepishly, his eyes drooping. “Sorry, Haru-chan.”  
“Drop the –chan.” Haru moved his hand up to the dagger on his hip. “Come on, I’m going to run out of target practice time.”  
Makoto nodded and followed Haru, and soon enough, the two of them were walking down the narrow path of Iwatobi Gladiator Campus, looking as charismatic as always.  
As soon as they hit the campus practice floor, every head turned toward them.  
At the age of eighteen, Haruka Nanase matured into a splendid young man. He was slender and graceful, captivating every eye that fell upon him. His dark blue eyes were always cold, yet deep like the ocean that would tempt anyone to drown in. Charming, as many would describe him. Yet, despite his calm demeanor, he was known to be the most vicious Gladiator ever since the first infamous fight where he bashed a man’s skull into the Aqua Arena ground. It took a lot of scraping on that particular spot to get the remains out, and no one could ever forget the horrific sight of a boy standing over a twitching body with pieces of flesh slipping down his knuckles, especially the live spectacles of that night. They still talked about the fight as though it was their win, even if some of them did throw up. Their excuses were ‘the thrill of it’.  
Haruka Nanase has never fallen. After his first fight as a _Tiro_ , an amateur, the twelve-year-old boy sharpened up and developed skills to dismantle a man quickly. Though he was rarely summoned for _Sine Missione_ , duels to the death, anymore, his _Pugnare ad_ _ditgitum_ , fight to the finger, which were common were still quick and clean. And with his skills, he barely ever got injured, which made many wondered why he decided to keep Makoto Tachibana by his side as an _Emissarium_ , a Scapegoat, to begin with.  
Of course, the spectacles, brains mushed by years of sadistic nature, suspected nothing of the bond they shared.  
Makoto Tachibana was always by Haru’s side. He was a fluff of six-feet-something gentleness. His bright green eyes were open like a wide grass field; a moment of much-needed breeze in this cruel world. His face was always adorned with an easy smile, and despite the fact the he towered over most people –including Haru- the boy looked like he never killed a fly in his life. How his innocence survived this far in the Arena was beyond anyone’s guess.  
To the outsiders, Makoto was simply a scapegoat, a gift that was bestowed upon the strongest gladiator in the Campus. He was only there to rid Haru of his injuries and pain. Whenever Haru was hurt in a duel, Makoto would be there to heal him, claiming the wound as his own through an old magical bond that tied them together. It was his duty to bear the pain so that the Gladiator may fight on, and after he was used up, too weak to take on any more pain, he would be executed in the Arena like other slaves.  
But little did they know that within the _Familia Gladiatorium_ , the Gladiators family, the two were known to be tightly knitted like a family of their own. They were the complete opposites that completed each other and even dubbed by the others in the camp as the ‘two bodies in perfect harmony’. They were the best of friends who stuck together over years and years of difficult life though sometimes conflicts would arise between them:  
Makoto never received a single scratch from Haru.  
Yes, that was the inly issue they could never agree on. Haru would never transfer his wounds to Makoto, and Makoto kept insisting on it to the point of tears, unable to bear witness as Haru's breathing became shallow and his body was writhing in pain after a particularly bad fight. But even then, their bonds were clear for anyone to see, especially with the way they walked around the campus, radiating shadow and light with every step they took.   
Most Gladiators, with a few exception of the new ones, respected and feared Haru. He may appear to be normal – even fragile – in his everyday activities, but that changed like blue to red in the Arena. Soaked with six years of bloody experience, he was the longest standing fighter the Iwatobi Campus ever had. Other Gladiators learned to give him space, and even though there were rumours about him pulling strings behind the scene in order to pull Makoto out of every duel and battle, they never mentioned it when the pair was present in the campus.  
Not if they wanted to be personally requested to a Sine Missione with Haru, anyway.  
Haru stepped into the practice ground, and immediately, other Gladiators dropped their gaze and scurried away. The only one who had no fear for Haru’s intimidating aura and Makoto’s tall build was Nagisa Hazuki, the campus’s nurse who was way too energetic for his own good.  
As always, many gladiators cringed when Nagisa came running from the weapon shed and threw his arm around Haru’s neck awhile yelling, “Haru-chan! I missed you so much!”  
Makoto laughed lightly while Haru, who had just put down his dagger, staggered back a few steps with a frown.  
“Nagisa, be careful. I could have hurt you,” Haru warned sternly. Had he been a few seconds late, the nurse might have impaled himself on the dagger. He would not be the first to die on the practice ground; people come and go in the Campus all the time, some dying in a duel in the Arena, some disappearing before turning up as a body nailed to a pole in the next morning. But Haru considered Nagisa to be his friend, and he would never wish any harm to the boy, especially not by his own hands.  
But the ball of sunshine just pouted with puffy cheeks.  
“Eh~ But I haven’t seen you in such a long time! I went all the way to Samezuka Campus for a whole month then came all this way here to wait for you, and this is how you welcome me back? Mako-chan, say something about this!”  
Makoto, dragged into the conversation, put his hand on Nagisa’s messy hair.   
“I missed you a lot, Nagisa. And so did Haru. He was just asking about you two days ago.”  
“Aw, that’s so sweet, Haru-chan!”  
A faint blush crept up Haru’s ears, but he quickly brushed the nurse off him and looked away.  
“I wasn’t really…”  
Sensing Haru’s embarrassment, Makoto quickly gave a gentle smile to Nagisa. “So, how was the Samezuka Campus? Did they treat you well?”  
Nagisa pouted even further at that, his face looking to be in disdain. “There were only muscle-crazed men there, and the place was a mess. Faulty gears and holes and broken stuff everywhere. I think I sort of understand why the campus was shut down, but now all those rowdy guys will just wreck our place up!”  
Nagisa’s booming voice declaring the unfortunate news immediately attracted other Iwatobi Gladiators to gather around him. An arrival of a new guy never went well; they always want to challenge the authority of the home Gladiator. Turf wars were unavoidable, forcing Haru to duel with the newbies many times to establish his dominance and keep peace within the campus ground. They’d heard that the Samezuka Campus was being merged with the Iwatobi Campus before, but never had this many Gladiators moved in at once.   
One wrong move and the whole campus might turn into a bloodbath. Not that it already wasn’t.  
“Wait, they’re all coming here? All of them?” one Gladiator asked. Nagisa nodded.  
“Yeah, all 22 of them. They’re just outside right now. Rei-chan is inspecting them to make sure no one carries any diseases. ”  
Makoto glanced worriedly at Haru who stood there blankly. If things were to go downhill, Haru would definitely be the first to take the tumble. After all, he was the strongest. If they wanted to take over the campus, they’d be after Haru’s head first and foremost.   
And nothing more scared Makoto than the thought of losing Haru.  
Another Gladiator kicked a rock angrily. “Damn it, what was the Master thinking?! Why would he buy all 22 men from a different campus over and squish us all in one place? Isn’t it already cramped enough?!”  
Others grunted in agreement.   
Nagisa looked around before leaning in and talked in a low whisper.  
“From what I’d overheard, apparently they were all supposed to be pitched into a last big bloodbath between all of them, and only one winner will get to be free. But something changed, and out Master decided to buy them all from their campus’s Master. It was a last minute decision, really.”  
Murmurs rippled through the men as curiosity bloomed in their minds. What was their Master planning? To pitch Iwatobi’s 19 Gladiators against Samezuka’s 22? To make them fight as a team?  
Just when another discussion was to break out, the gate of the campus opened, and 22 men in shackles walked in. Each one of them bore scars, and their eyes were hard and cold, just as expected of one of the most ruthless campuses in history. Immediately one of the men’s teal eyes traveled to the biggest guy in the crowd to pose a challenge.  
And of course, that person was Makoto.  
Haru didn’t even spare a second before stepping in front of his friend, giving everyone a glare of death and establishing his position as the best fighter effectively. The guy from Samezuka raised his eyebrows a little. When all the men came to a halt and their shackles were released, they stretched to their full height and glowered at the Iwatobi men who glowed back, sparking tension in the air. Through all this, Haru kept one of his hand on Makoto’s shoulder and another on the hilt of his dagger, his eyes trained on the guy who was glaring at Makoto when he first stepped in.   
The guy, whose size and build were similar to Makoto, shot the look of blank aggression toward Haru. But he stepped back slightly when a smaller man walked out from behind him.  
Haru’s eyes widened slightly at the tuft of bright red hair and lean body of the rumored Rin Matsuoka, dubbed as ‘Crimson Shark’ from Samezuka. Nothing he’d heard about the guy was good, and he even made the big guy behind him looked much softer in comparison. This guy radiated ruthlessness and everyone in the area could smell bloodlust on him as his face twitched into a smirk.   
If there was one thing Haru and Rin shared, it was their position as the top Gladiator. They were the crème de la crème of this Campus now, and the only thing left to do was to duke it out until one of them tap out or die.  
 _Haru would not tap out. That was not an option_.  
Growling almost pleasingly, Rin tilted his head at Haru.  
“So you’re the so-called ‘Savage Blue’, huh? A bit flimsy, aren’t we? Nothing like I was expecting at all.”  
Haru’s mouth almost lifted into a smile in response. Almost.  
“You can tell that to me again when you’re drowning in your own blood, shark.”  
 _He had the end of his bargain to keep, and if he fell from his position as the strongest Gladiator, he would not be the one to pay the price._  
 _And he would rather return to the empty sky than let Makoto take the fall._

**Author's Note:**

> Terminology time!  
> Tiro= A gladiator fighting in his first public combat  
> Sine missione= a fight with no possibility of reprieve for the loser  
> Pugnare ad digitum= "To fight to the finger." Combat took place until the defeated gladiator raised his finger (or his hand or whole arm) to signal the munerarius to stop the fight.  
> Familia Gladiatorium= A troop of gladiators who lived and trained under one lanista
> 
> Source: http://archive.archaeology.org/gladiators/glossary.html#gladiators
> 
> Emissarium= Scapegoat. By using an old magical bond, one can transfer their own wound and pain to a scapegoat. This is my own idea and is not actually a thing.


End file.
